October 25, 2026 - 6:15 pm

In a high school boys soccer season with a lot of parity in 5A and the top team going through a bit of rebuilding, it would appear there would be some new teams atop the standings.

That wasn’t the case this year. Coronado (Desert League), which on the field won a third straight 5A state title last November before having to forfeit all of its wins later, and Palo Verde (Mountain League) finished at the top of their respective 5A leagues for a second straight year.

The playoffs begin this week with the 5A Southern Region quarterfinals on Monday. The 4A state first round begins Tuesday and the 3A Southern League continues Tuesday.

Here are five things to watch during the playoffs:

Coronado graduated most of its team that won a third straight state title in 2025, before the Cougars had to vacate their title and forfeit all of their wins from last year.…